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Sticky fingers deprive city of special artifacts, from cannons to 300-pound sculptures

The city has recorded three major incidents of items gone missing over the past decade. And then there’s the stuff that quietly disappears.

"Lion/Owl" disappeared for a couple of years, and then just as mysteriously returned to Scarborough Civic Centre. (andrew francis wallace / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

Spadina House - a period mansion toured by many visitors - has been a target of frequent disappearances, sometimes of items as small as a spoon. (COLIN MCCONNELL / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

A replica cannon was part of a display at Fort York before its disappearance. (City of Toronto)

By Alison ShouldiceStaff Reporter

Sun., Aug. 30, 2015

Wanted: four paintings, two vases and a replica cannon.

These are just a few of the historical artifacts that have fallen victim to the sticky fingers of thieves at City of Toronto-owned properties over the last decade.

In total, the city has about 150,000 artifacts, some of which are on display at its museums and public buildings. There have been three major incidents of some of them going missing since 2005, according to information obtained by the Star through a freedom of information request. Objects disappeared at Fort York, the Scarborough Civic Centre and Spadina Museum.

“We don’t have to deal with many thefts,” said Alex Avdichuk, supervisor of collections and conservation with the City of Toronto. “It’s a fairly rare occurrence.”

When it does happen, city staff file a police report and look into whether the city is eligible for an insurance payout.

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Each case is unique: Sometimes, it’s obvious the item was stolen, while other objects disappear more mysteriously. In one case, the artifact was recovered. The rest, however, remain at large.

The case of the missing cannon

It’s been 10 years since a replica cannon was ripped from its display at Fort York’s Blue Barracks building, and little is known about what happened.

During the first week of January 2005, someone ripped an entire display off the wall containing the 15.5-cm wood deck-mounted long gun replica. Remains — the display case — were later found discarded nearby. Staff believed the perpetrator was a visitor, insurance forms show.

The cannon was a model of an 1800s-style long gun cannon. The replica appears to have been made in 1962 by artist Henry Slack.

There is no record that the city received any insurance payout for the loss. “Odds are it just never got pursued, because we couldn’t either find a replacement or we couldn’t find the value. It was just noted as a loss,” Avdichuk said.

The case of the disappearing sculpture

The city will probably never know what happened to one particular sculpture between 2012 and 2014.

The metre-high piece “Lion/Owl,” by late artist Elizabeth Fraser Williamson, disappeared in 2012 before inexplicably reappearing two years later. It had been on display in the rotunda of the Scarborough Civic Centre when it was reported missing.

“We turned over every single place it could have been,” Avdichuk said. “We asked security staff, we asked the facilities maintenance staff, we had a guy go through literally every corner of that building he could get into.” Eventually, the case was closed after the city received a $2,250 insurance payout.

Then, one day in 2014, Avdichuk got a phone call. It was a staffer at the Civic Centre, with incredible news: the sculpture had reappeared without explanation.

“Whoever had taken it or moved it just put it back,” Avdichuk said. “And this thing must weigh 300 pounds — it’s not a simple thing to move.” Since its reappearance, the sculpture has stayed put in the building’s rotunda.

The case of “Wait, wasn’t there a painting here before?”

Four paintings were snatched off the walls of the Spadina Museum last year and have yet to reappear.

During the week of Nov. 17, 2014, museum administrator Karen Edwards was alerted by one of her staff that a single painting was missing from the house’s Reception Room. Investigating, she found several empty hangers on the wall. In total, four paintings were gone — an oil painting by Dutch artist Johannes Hendricus Jurres, and three watercolours by British painter Sir Augustus Callcott.

“We brought the police in, because it was obviously a theft,” Avdichuk said.

“At least one of the missing works would have required a ladder and movement of furniture to remove,” Edwards noted in her written record of the loss. As of July 2015, Spadina Museum staff were still working with insurance adjusters on the case.

The paintings were probably gone for several weeks before they were noticed missing, according to Avdichuk. This is because the museum had recently undergone a redecoration.

“Because we had recently switched it up, the staff was less familiar with what was there,” she said.

The case of “Where did all that other stuff go?”

In the wake of the painting theft, city staff did an inventory of Spadina Museum and uncovered several other missing artifacts. Like the four paintings, most were taken from the house’s Reception Room. Two vases and one trinket box have yet to be recovered, as well as a sugar bowl, creamer, teaspoon, cup, shell and saucer.

It’s unknown whether these items are related to the missing paintings. But staff believe that at least some may have been taken by an employee. Over the past several years, other items have repeatedly disappeared, including several floor mats, gift shop stock and kitchen supplies.

“It is suspected that this might be an internal situation, as other items have gone missing from the site over the past few years, from areas which should only be accessible to staff,” notes a memo from city Museum Services Registrar Lisa Buchanan.

Although these smaller missing items are labelled as “stolen,” Avdichuk said she tries not to assume artifacts have been maliciously taken unless it’s obvious.

“It’s entirely possible that some things may have just been moved, and they’ll turn up later.”

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